Lucy's Back
by beibet1008
Summary: It's been 2 years since Natsu and Happy came back from their training after Tartaros, but Lucy wasn't there. Natsu and Happy brought the guild back together and after rebuilding in Magnolia, they searched for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Now she's back, but she looks different and she's more powerful. What happened to her? Where has she been? What's with this new power?
1. Chapter 1

Ch.1

 _This story takes place 2 years after Natsu and Happy come back after their year of training. Lucy was not there at the time, but Natsu did find everyone from Fairy Tail and brought them back, except Lucy. After rebuilding the guild in Magnolia, they sent out search parties to look for Lucy, but she was nowhere to be found. Team Natsu refused to stop looking, but Master finally forbid them from looking, convinced Lucy would come back on her own. Jellal, Meredy, and Cobra were pardoned by the Magic Council for helping with the Eclipse Gate, as well as E.N.D and Zeref who are now gone. They now live in Lucy's old home, which Natsu refused to let go of._

It's been almost 2 years since Natsu came back to Hargeon to unite Fairy Tail again. The Guild was back and better than ever, as it was restored to it's former glory. Gray and Juvia had finally admitted their feelings for each other and were living together happily. Jellal and Erza were as close to dating as possible without being official. Evergreen and Elfman had married, as well as Lisanna and Bickslow and Mira and Freed. Cana and Bacchus were also together, much to Gildarts horror, and Gajeel and Levy were dating.

The Guild was packed when Natsu and Happy slammed the doors open. Sabertooth and members of Blue Pegasus had been staying here for a while, and sleeping either at Fairy Hills or at the guild. They came, because Sting had heard word of a Celestial Mage saving a small town near Hargeon from a small dark guild, but by the time they had arrived, there was no sign of her. Sting and Rogue had apparently tried to track her scent, but there had been a storm the night before, and it had completely vanished. They had searched the area for several days, but she was nowhere to be found. Natsu, Erza, and Gray had wanted to go out and search but Master had threatened them by almost banning them from missions.

Natsu sat down at the bar in Lucy's favorite spot, between Sting and Levy. Happy sat on the bar in front of Sting, immediately turning his attention to Frosch and Lector. Mirajane smiled widely at him after putting a plate overflowing with food in front of Sting. "Good Morning, Natsu!"

He smiled back. "Morning, Mira. Can I get my usual and a few fish for Happy?"

She nodded, moving back into the kitchen to start his food. HE looked around the guild for a while, taking everything in, and eavesdropping on several conversations with his heightened hearing. Kinana was moving back and forth, taking orders and bringing some back. She waved briefly at him, as Sting punched him in the shoulder. "Dragneel. What took you so long? You owe me a rematch from yesterday. I only lost because Titania knocked me out after you punched me into her cake."

Natsu snorted. "Bring it, firefly! I'm all fired up!"

He got up, ready to fight the light dragon slayer, but Mira slammed a plate of food down in front of him, and he quickly sat back down, forgetting the fight. Happy munched on his fish happily, and when Natsu was finished, he punched an unsuspecting Sting across the face, making him crash into Evergreen, who yelled that interrupting someone was not being a "MAN". This you can imagine, started a huge brawl that was beyond even Fairy Tail proportions, since Blue Pegasus and Sabertooth were quick to jump in.

Natsu immediately charged at Gray, who by now was completely naked. He punched him with his fire-lit fists, and he flew backwards, heading straight for Erza. When he landed on top of her, smashing her face into her strawberry cake, she shook with anger, pulling her sword and yelling about retribution for her precious cake, before jumping in and knocking out people by the handful. The brawl lasted for about twenty minutes, before Master stretched out a giant hand, and squished them all like bugs. "If you brats destroy this guild again, I'll punish all of you, including Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus."

Happy flew over to Natsu and helped him up, and he sat at their usual table, with Erza, Gray, Juvia, Jellal, Meredy, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel, Levy, and their exceeds. Natsu was mocking Gray when he heard Juvia turn her attention towards Happy. His head was down and it looked like he was about to start crying. Natsu was quick to turn to them.

Juvia patted Happy's head. "What's the matter, Happy?"

He looked up at Natsu, his eyes filling with tears. "I miss Lucy"

He had said it loud enough that not only did his table stop talking, but pretty much the entire guild had gone quiet. Natsu sighed, hugging Happy close to him. "I know, little buddy. It's not the same without her."

Happy sobbed. "I miss talking to her, and hearing her laugh… and teasing her… and sleeping in her bed… and hugging her…"

Levy cut him off. " I miss reading with Lu-chan and talking with her."

Gajeel grunted. "I miss making her mad."

"I miss going on missions with Lucy", Erza said.

"I miss fighting with Love Rival", Juvia said.

Soon everyone was saying what they missed about Lucy, and it was peaceful for a moment until Sting turned to Gajeel. "Wait a minute, didn't you torture Lucy?"

Gajeel's cheeks turned red. "That's in the past! Plus, Bunny girl already forgave me for that. At least I didn't torture her in front of an arena full of people."

Minerva choked on the her drink. " I-I've ch-changed. Hey, I heard that SOMEONE turned her to stone before they had even met properly."

Evergreen huffed. "I've apologized for that. I wasn't the one kidnapped her and turned her into a giant floating fish."

"I-I w-wasn't directly responsible f-for that. I just helped, plus Heartfilia's already forgiven me", Cobra stuttered, the tips of his pointed ears turning pink.

"I don't know why you guys are playing the blame game. Anything anyone's done to her has already been forgiven. Lucy isn't one to hold a grudge. She never has been. And if she was here she'd tell you to move on, because it was in the past", Natsu said as he played with the ends of his scarf.

Erza nodded. "Natsu's right. Lucy is the most forgiving person I've ever met. That's why she's called the Light of Fairy Tail."

Gray snorted. "It's also because she doesn't know when to quit. Lucy wouldn't run away from a fight even if she was on the verge of death."

Happy laughed. "NASTU! Remember when we were fighting that guy from the seven kin of purgatory? You were trapped under that boulder and you told Lucy to run?"

He smiled, but it wasn't happy. "Even as she was being tortured in front of me, she refused to run away."

Wendy smiled at Carla. "And when Lucy-chan thought she would be blown away by the Infinity clock she did it anyway to save all those people."

Cana set her drink down. "When Lucy does finally come home we have to throw a huge party. One with lots of alcohol."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Cana. And we have to invite the other guilds that have helped us look for her. Like Mermaid heel, and the others", Master said.

Levy frowned. "But where will Lu-chan stay since Jellal and Meredy and Cobra are at her house?"

Natsu snorted, setting his glass of fire whiskey down. "Obviously, she'll stay with Happy and me. We haven't been renovating it for no reason, right little buddy?"

"Aye Sir!"

After Happy had cheered up, and they had finished planning Lucy's welcome home party, Natsu and Happy headed home, only after Natsu made sure to get in one more fight with Sting and Gray. He lay in his hammock that night, next to the bed they had bought for when Lucy came back, thinking about her. It shouldn't have been this hard to find her. With every known Dragon Slayer hunting her they should have found her a long time ago. Which could only mean that she didn't want to be found.

As unbelievable as everybody thought it was, Natsu wasn't a complete idiot. He knew how important Lucy was to him and he knew that he was in love with her. He had been completely enamored with her from the moment they met, and the attraction had only gotten stronger over the years. He loved everything about her. He loved her beautiful golden hair, he loved her warm brown eyes, he loved her voluptuous body and her baby soft, pale skin. He loved when she laughed, and the look on her face when she read or was in deep concentration. He loved how she spoke and how she yelled and even how she cried, even though seeing her cry was the thing he hated most in the world. He loved how brave she was, and how she loves everyone she meets. He loves how strong she is, even though some would say otherwise. He knew her better than anyone, and he loved every small, insignificant detail of her.

That's why he couldn't stand the idea of knowing where she was, or what she was doing, or who she was with. Was she in danger? Was she training? Was she lost? How come she didn't try to contact them? Why was she deliberately hiding from them?

Natsu shook his head to clear the thoughts. That was something they could deliberate as a team. He didn't want to think about her in danger. He knew she could take care of herself, but it was in his nature to protect her.

He tossed and turned for a while, thinking about her, before he finally fell asleep. In the morning, he trained with Happy for a while in the woods by their house, before showering and heading for the guild. He was unsurprised to see that Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus members were still there, as he sat at a table with his team, as well as the other dragon slayers, including Laxus, Cobra, Sting and Rogue.

Natsu ate his breakfast with vigor, before trying to start a fight with Laxus. When he ended up on the floor, electrocuted, he turned to Gildarts, who punched him across the guild without even looking at him.

He sat up, rubbing his head, but cowered when he saw Erza towering over him with a sword over her head. He could only guess that he had accidentally hit her cake when he was punched. He squeezed his eyes shut, ready for death to come and take him, when a crash and the sound of glass breaking echoed through the now quiet guild.

He looked over towards the window to the left of him, and his breath caught. The window was completely destroyed, but it was the figure standing up slowly about five feet from it that made him stop.

Black combat boots, with black socks that went to mid-thigh with a gold Fairy Tail insignia encased long, toned legs that were covered in tiny scars. Tiny crowd pleaser denim shorts just covered their butt cheeks, and hugged their wide hips. The waistline was just under a pierced belly button that had a gold chain that wrapped around their toned abs. A black lace non-wired halter neck bralette covered their large chest and ended right under the ribs. Long, extremely thick blonde hair fell wildly to the tops of her thighs, though the left side of her face was completely covered, and the right side was half-cornrowed. Random sections of air were braided with feathers or beads, and it looked incredible. His eyes zeroed in on her back where it looked like there was a large branding of a dragon, and a growl rumbled in his chest at the thought of someone hurting her like that. Her left arm was covered in a tattoo that was made entirely of symbols in another language.

She was smiling, her plump pink lips pulled back into a smirk and a long sword was in her right had, the handle almost too big for her tiny fingers to completely wrap around. Her warm brown eyes were staring right at him, before turning her attention back to the window.

Lucy. That was Lucy. Lucy was here. She had looked right at him. She looked… Wow, she looked incredible, but his sharp eyes also noticed the thousands of tiny scars that littered her body, that he knew for a fact hadn't been there before.

He watched, unable to move, as a Vulcan threw itself at her, and she kicked it so hard, it twinkled in the sky as it flew across Magnolia. She sighed, sheathing her sword, before taking a deep breath and turning towards him again.

She smiled, crouching down in front of him. He didn't dare move, afraid this was a dream and that if he moved to touch her, she would disappear. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as a blue streak he knew was Happy crashed into her chest, making her fall on her butt.

"LUCY! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!", he sobbed. She looked surprised for a moment, before rubbing his head.

"I'm Home, Happy", she said.

This seemed to break everyone out of their shock as Fairy Tail as a whole dog piled on top of them, screaming "LUCY".

Most members backed off for a moment, as she was attacked once again by her team members, everyone cringing when they heard her head bang painfully against Erza's armor when she pulled Lucy's head to her chest.

She finally turned towards Natsu, ignoring the rest of the guild. She smiled, her hand coming up and stroking his cheek, briefly, before moving to his hair and tugging lightly. They said nothing, and they didn't have to. Natsu's hand came up, and cupped her face, frowning when he felt the left side of her face, which was still covered. She closed her visible eye, as he gently moved her hair away from her face.

He heard the gasps from everyone else behind him, as his heart stopped. A long, thick red scar began at her hairline and went down through her left eye and the corner of her mouth to her chin. He breathed out slowly. "Lucy, open your eyes."

She sighed. "Natsu…"

"Luce, open your eyes."

His voice left no room for argument, and she took a deep breath, before doing as he said. He heard gasps again, but he was too busy trying to reign in his anger to pay any notice. Her right eye was a milky white, and it was clear that she was blind in that eye.

"Who did this to you?"

She smiled, covering his hands with hers. "Natsu… it doesn't matter."

"Luce, who did this to you?"

"It's okay. I'm okay."

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him, only seeing him with one. "Natsu, you don't know how much I've missed you."

He stroked her cheekbones softly, touching her forehead with his. "Lucy, I've never missed anyone as much as I've missed you these past few years."

He took in her scent as her right cheek turned red, finding that she still smelled like strawberries and vanilla, but also now held a strong undertone of starlight. She looked up at him again, and her hands wrapped around his neck. They stared into each others eyes for a moment, before his eyes flicked down to her mouth. The left side was pulled down just a bit because of her scar, but other than that, they were as plump and perfect as ever, and Natsu couldn't help when his mouth came down on hers.

Her eyes closed after a moment of shock, and she kissed him back as the Guild erupted in cheers. They pulled back after minute, and Natsu laughed loudly, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, lifting her off her feet. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she laughed in his ear, the sound warming his heart.

They crashed to the ground, as their team dog piled on top of them, and Natsu could swear there was never a moment he was more happy.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

The guild was in full party mode, and Lucy was being passed around the Guild. Natsu sat with his team at the bar, keeping a sharp eye on her. There was no way in hell he was letting her out of his sight now that he had finally gotten her back. She was currently talking with Alzack and Bisca, the latter who was holding her newborn son, as Lucy held a now eight year-old Asuka. They spoke for a while, before the family decided to head for the night before the guild got too crazy. She made her way back to them, and sat in her normal seat next to him. Cana immediately draped her arm around her, her hand groping her boob.

"Well, Luuuuccyy… it seems like these bad boys haven't changed as much as you have."

Lucy blushed. "C-Cana…"

"Looook at you. S-Still as shy as e-ever."

"And you're as drunk as ever."

Cana laughed. "Touche, my friend. Touche."

Cana backed off, and Lucy turned her attention back to Natsu, smiling. He stroked her exposed cheek, leaning his forehead to hers once again and breathing her in. She played with the ends of his now longer hair.

"You grew out your hair."

He laughed. "Yeah, you did too." He played with a strand that was braided with a purple feather for a few moments before Erza and Gray interrupted them.

"Okay, Natsu. You've hogged Lucy long enough. Let everyone have a chance to spend time with her."

Natsu looked at them, without removing his forehead from Lucy's. "She's only been here for about an hour, and she spent more than half of that with the rest of the guild. I just got her back."

Gray snorted, grabbing Lucy's arm and pulling her into a tight hug. "We just got her back too, fire-ass. It's been three years without seeing my little sister."

Lucy looked back at him, as his arms wrapped more tightly around her shoulders from behind. "Aww, Gray! I've missed you too!"

Erza stroked Lucy's hair fondly. "Our family is finally complete. Welcome back, Lucy."

Lucy's eyes teared up again, and she flung herself on Erza, who had to step back to keep her balance, but laughed. She patted Lucy's head, but refrained from breaking her skull against her armor. Lucy stepped back after a few moments, wiping her good eye. "I missed you guys so much. If I could have come back earlier I would have, but…"

Erza nodded at Lucy's hesitation. "Don't worry about that right now. You can tell us about your journeys tomorrow when everybody's sobered up a bit."

Lucy sat back down beside Natsu, entwining their fingers. They talked for a while as a team, catching her up on everything that's happened so far. She squealed when they mentioned their significant others.

She clapped her hands together. " I knew you and Juvia would make an excellent couple. Were you the one to make the first move?"

He laughed. "Of course not. You know Juvia, she asked me out one day, expecting to be rejected and fainted when I said yes."

Lucy pouted. "AWWW! I wish I had been there to see it! And I missed when Jellal and the others got pardoned!"

"Don't forget about Lisanna, Mira, and Evergreen's wedding."

She almost cried. "I've missed so much!"

Natsu stroked her arm, soothingly. "At least Gray, Erza and Levy haven't gotten married yet. You'll be there those."

She nodded, but still pouted. "I know. You're right."

They talked until the early hours of the morning, when some people were headed home, and most in the guild were either passed out, drunk, or asleep. Happy was sleeping on his head, as he picked up Lucy who was passed out against his shoulder. He waved to Master and Gildarts who were the only somewhat sober people still awake in the guild, and made his way home. He kicked the bedroom door open with his foot, and heard the quiet creek as it closed behind him, laying Lucy gently on the bed as he knelt down to unlace and take off her boots. He lay Happy by Lucy's feet, and moved to the other side of the bed, taking off his sandals and one-sleeved vest, before getting into bed. He turned onto his side, throwing an arm around Lucy's waist and pulling her back against his torso so they were spooning, quickly falling asleep with her scent surrounding him.

When he woke the next morning, his arm tightened around Lucy possessively, and he couldn't help the large grin that spread across his face when he looked down. He was now on his back, and Lucy was tucked into his side, half on top of him, her leg draped of his and her arm thrown over his stomach, with her head on her chest. Happy was sprawled over her waist, passed out and scratching at her clothing.

Natsu stroked her long hair with his free hand, looking up at the ceiling. What did this mean? Was she his mate? Were they dating like Juvia and Gray? Would she want to get her own place?

She stirred, tightening her arm around his stomach. "Natsu… What time is it?"

He glanced over at the clock lacrima on the table beside his bed. "It's nine."

She sighed, burying her face into his chest for a moment, before sitting up. She picked up Happy and placed him on her head, before getting up and stretching her arms.

"What are your plans for today, Luce?"

"Well, I need to go back to my old apartment and get some clothes and other things, but after that we can head to the guild."

"So, you don't mind Jellal and Meredy and Cobra staying in your apartment?"

She laughed as Happy stretched on top of her. "Of course not. They needed somewhere to stay and I wasn't here. There's no point in leaving it empty if people need a place to stay. But I do want to get my mother's letters, and Michelle, and… my keys."

He stopped. "W-wait… are you saying that you haven't had your keys this entire time you've been gone?"

She looked down, sheepishly. "W-well, w-where I was going i-it was to dangerous to have any kind of holder magic, and I didn't want to risk having them taken away."

"Luce, are you serious!"

"I know, okay! It was stupid! I'm sorry, but I had to."

He breathed out deeply. "Well, what did Loke say about that?"

Lucy was about to respond, but she Happy suddenly flew off her head, flying around the room excitedly. "Forget about that! Let's go! I want fish!"

Lucy and Natsu showered separately, and headed off to her apartment. Natsu wrapped his hand around hers, earning him a bright smile that made his breath catch. When they were outside her old apartment she stopped and smiled at the building.

"What's the matter, Luce?"

"What? Nothing! It's just… been a while."

He laughed. "Of course it has. You've been gone for three years, weirdo. Come on."

He pulled her through the front door, and up the stairs, knocking on her door loudly.

"Since when do you use the front door? And knock instead of just barging in?"

"Since Cobra threatened to rip my organs out and light them on fire. Not that they'd burn, but still. It's been awhile since I've broken in."

Lucy laughed as the door opened, Cobra on the other side, smirking at Natsu. "Aww, do I scare the tiny dragonslayer?"

Natsu grumbled unhappily, under his breath, which Cobra heard of course, stepping aside to let them inside. Jellal and Meredy were sitting at the table drinking coffee, but they sat up straighter when they saw them. "Good morning Jellal, Meredy, Cobra."

Jellal smiled at her, and Meredy waved. "Good morning Lucy-san."

"Sorry to barge in on you, we just came to collect some of my things, then we'll be out of your hair."

Cobra snorted. "This is your apartment, idiot. Why are you apologizing to us?"

Jellal nodded. "Cobra's right. If you want your apartment back Lucy, I'm sure we can find somewhere else to stay."

She shook her head, quickly. "Don't worry about it. I'm perfectly fine staying with Natsu until I find a new place. Or maybe I'll build my own house. That would be fun!"

Cobra looked at her funny, as Meredy glanced at Jellal. "Are you sure, Lucy-san? Cause it really wouldn't be any trouble…"

She nodded. "No, really. I insist. It'll be fun to build my own place. Although I know as soon as I do, my team won't hesitate to find interesting ways to break in… I'm sure it'll be fine! Anyway, I just came to collect some clothes and other family stuff."

"Of course. I'll help you fold. Natsu can stay here with the boys and eat a little something."

Natsu plopped down in Meredy's now empty chair with Happy sitting on the table in front of him, immediately starting an insult battle with Cobra, as the girls made their way to Lucy's old bedroom. It was pretty much the same, but there were two cots against either side of the wall, and packs full of clothes next to them, as well as beside the bed.

She walked over to her desk first, which was untouched as well as her closet. Her keys lay next to her open diary, and her manuscript was next to Michelle and the torn painting of her family.

She picked up her keys slowly, undoing the button to the top strap and stroking the tops of the keys slowly, feeling them slowly warm in her hands, and a rush of emotions ran through her as her spirits reacted to her finally coming back, and she fought for control as several of them tried to open their own gates, but she sealed them firmly, mentally apologizing and telling them she would open their gates at the guild. She heard Loke roar in frustration in her head, cursing wildly, but she ignored them for the moment, focusing on the rest of her stuff.

She smiled as she grabbed her magical whip, opening a pocket into the Celestial Spirit World and placing everything in their carefully. She stroked Michelle and the painting fondly for a minute before placing them in with her diary and manuscript. She opened another pocket to stuff her clothes in as she and Meredy folded in comfortable silence. When they were finished, she closed that pocket and set down her clothes as she finally turned to the open shoebox next to her bed that held her letters to her mother.

Meredy wrung her hands together. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. We didn't mean to invade your privacy, but when we saw the letters addressed to your mother…"

Lucy turned to her with a sad smile. "It's fine, Meredy. I don't mind you reading them. My team has broken in and read them more times than I can count."

"But they're personal… you should be mad at us for invading such a private piece of your life."

She shrugged. "I don't see the point in being needlessly angry about something that really isn't that personal anymore. Everybody knows I write letters to my mother. It's not really something you should feel sorry about."

She picked up the box and her keys, making her way to kitchen and sitting on Natsu's lap. Meredy followed, frowning to herself, and sat on a stool by the counter.

Natsu rubbed her arm. "Did you get everything you wanted?"

She nodded, taking the mug of coffee from Cobra as he raised it to his lips, and took a long, slow sip. Cobra looked around as if he was unsure of what had just happened, as Natsu and Jellal laughed.

"I'll have to go shopping soon though, because most of my clothes now are too big."

It was true. While Lucy's more toned body still held the extremely exaggerated curves it always had, she had lost any bit of body fat she once had, making her facial features more prominent and lining the rest of her body with muscle.

Lucy laughed when Cobra glared at her as she finished off his coffee. "You know my saliva is poisonous right?"

Natsu immediately began panicking, but Lucy just shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I've already trained my body to become immune to almost all forms of poison. I'm not worried."

 _Don't say anything about it with Natsu here. He'll just overreact and get mad and set everything on fire. If you have any questions, you can come ask me later._ His eyebrows furrowed as he listened to her thoughts.

Jellal, however, could not hear her thoughts. "But Lucy… that is very dan-"

She got up quickly, pulling Natsu up with her, cutting him off. "Okay, it's time we were off to the guild. I'm sure everyone's wondering where we are. And I'm hungry. We'll see you guys there."

Natsu whooped at the mention of food and ran out the door with Happy flying after him, yelling about eating a giant fish and seeing Charle. Lucy galnced at Jellal in a way that said _we'll talk about this later_ , running out the door when she heard Natsu and Happy yelling at her to hurry up.

Jellal Pov:

When the door closed behind Lucy, he turned back towards the others, frowning. "Making yourself immune to poison means ingesting or injecting yourself with poison over and over again until your immune system is used to it, and can fight it. How would she…?"

Cobra shook his head. "Making yourself immune to poison is easier than you think. It hurts like hell, and is incredibly dangerous, but it's not hard. Why, though? What environment was she in that she would need to make herself immune to various poisons? And what was she doing?"

Meredy took a deep breath. "She's different. We didn't know Lucy well, but from the stories I've heard she is completely different. She barely reacted when I told her we had read her mother's letters. From what Erza's told me, she was a screamer and got very emotional over things that were important to her."

Jellal thought it over for a while, before shaking it off. "Let's just get ready and head to the guild. She promised Erza she'd tell her story today, and maybe that'll explain everything."

Meredy nodded, heading off to the bathroom to change, leaving Jellal and Cobra alone. "I don't like it. My poison is lethal unlike any other, because I'm a dragonslayer. For her to be immune to it…"

Jellal nodded. "We'll talk to her later. Let's head to the guild. I want to hear her story, and what exactly she's been doing for the past three years."

Regular pov:

When they got to the guild, everybody greeted them loudly, Lucy being passed around the guild again as everyone was relieved to see she really was back and yesterday wasn't a crazy dream. She sat at their usual table eating a large stack of chocolate chip waffles, a bowl of fruit, and a large glass of orange juice. Natsu sat to her right, making a mess of the huge plate of random food he had ordered, and Happy was happily sucking on a fish on her head. Erza and Gray sat across from them, Erza eating a whole strawberry cake, and Gray staring at Natsu in disgust as he held his bowl of ice cream away from the table as he tried to avoid pieces of Natsu's flying food.

Levy sat to Lucy's right, with Pantherlily on her lap and Gajeel on the other side of her, reading a book with her gale-force glasses while Gajeel devoured a big pile of metal. Juvia was clinging to Gray, and Jellal had shown up a few minutes ago, immediately taking the seat next to Erza.

Lucy held back a shiver as she felt eyes boring into her from the balcony upstairs. She knew it was the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus without even looking. Laxus had been staring intensely at Lucy since she had come back yesterday, no doubt wondering what was up with the huge spikes of power he could feel coming from her at random times. She had seen Gildarts give her the same cautious look, as well as Erza, Jellal, and Master.

It wasn't for another fifteen minutes when everybody began talking as they ate that Master came down and sat at the bar, looking at their table. Lucy knew what he was gonna say before he opened his mouth.

"Now that you and Natsu have eaten, Lucy my child, I'm sure we're all curious to hear about your travels," he said, cutting off Levy who had been talking to her about the book she had been reading.

Lucy sighed as the guild went silent, people moving in closer to hear her better. She felt nervous, because not only was every member of Fairy Tail here, but also all of Sabertooth, and half of Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus and Lamia Scale, who were here to celebrate her return later this evening.

Natsu squeezed her hand when he heard her heart begin racing as everyone present turned their eyes on her. Only the people that were there when she first arrived knew of her scar and only Natsu had gotten a glimpse of her branding and it unnerved her a bit that she was about to show such a large group of people.

"Ummm… okay, well after the battle with Tartaros, and the guild disbanding, Magnolia was somewhat destroyed and everybody had gone their separate ways, I headed to Hargeon, where I started working as an editor for Sorcerer's Weekly and a Gravure model. After a few months doing that, Capricorn came through his own gate one day. He said that because I had summoned three spirits, the Celestial Spirit King, and obtained my Star Dress abilities, my power would begin to spi-"

There were collective gasp before she could finish her sentence. Yukino half-stood up from her seat next to Sting at the table next to hers. "You summoned the Celestial Spirit King? How? He's never given his key to a mortal because it takes too much power to open."

Lucy smiled sadly, pulling the necklace chain from under her shirt that held Aquarius's broken key. "To summon the Celestial Spirit King without his key you have to sacrifice one of the twelve zodiac. After Mard Geer activated Alegria, everyone was sucked in accept me. Mard Geer told everyone in the cube that if they found and killed me they would be given a spot in the Nine Demon Gates. So than, naturally it was me versus ordinary henchmen using my whip. But than Lamy and Torafuzar came and I had to call Loke and Virgo. We were fighting on pieces of driftwood racing down some stream, and it was hard enough as it was, but then Jackal came, and I had to summon Aquarius. Loke and Virgo got sent back because my magic was depleting. It was me and Aquarius vs. Torafuzar and Jackal. FACE was about to be activated, and the Cube was headed straight for Magnolia. Everyone was trapped and about to become apart of the Plutogrim. Aquarius said that if I sacrificed her, the Celestial Spirit King would be summoned. She… I didn't really have much of a choice.

So, I broke her key, and the King came and destroyed the Cube. He and Mard Geer fought, and I defeated Jackal when Aquarius gave me power to activate her Star Dress. When the Spirit King froze Mard Geer in stone, Alegria was de-activated and that's when you guys saved me before Torafuzar and the other's could kill me."

It was silent as everybody took in what she said, as she stroked the keys on the table in front of her, feeling them react to her sadness. After a few moments, Natsu cupped her face, his hand covering the hair on the left side of her face, knowing she didn't want to show her scar just yet. "Lucy… Why didn't you ever tell me?"

She laughed quietly. "There wasn't ever any time to. After everything happened, you and Happy left to train, and I didn't see you. And I knew you were mourning Igneel, so I never brought it up."

Happy hugged her hand to his small body, his eyes huge with unshed tears. "Lucy…"

She laughed, tipping his head up. "Hey, why are you crying? I didn't finish my story yet."

Master huffed. "Either way, to achieve so much in one day. Not only summoning the Celestial Spirit King and three spirits at once, but also obtaining Star Dress… those achievements take power most Celestial Spirit mages could only dream of."

She blushed. "Thank you, Master. But as I was saying before, Capricorn came to me one day after I came back from a day of modeling. He told me that my magic levels were beginning to spike dangerously, and that I had to train myself mentally, emotionally and physically if I wanted to control it."

She patted Happy's head, who was still sobbing quietly. "He also told me that Aquarius's key had been reborn somewhere on Earthland, and that if I found it, I could make a contract with her again. So, I quit my job, sold my apartment, and packed up. I trained with my spirits for a while in the woods far away for some months, before I heard word of a Cave in some small town called Brigand, which literally means thief, that is known to hold powerful Holder magic artifacts. Apparently Brigand's a place the Magic Council sends low-level criminals. I knew I couldn't risk taking my keys there, so I brought them back to my apartment here in Magnolia and left them there."

Erza frowned. "And Loke let you do that? He let you go off to a town full of criminals unprotected?"

Lucy twiddled her thumbs together nervously, and she could hear Cobra laughing somewhere at the bar behind her. "Well… not exactly. He fought with me about it for a few days and even tried to knock me out to keep me from going, but I had gotten the hang of forcing their gates closed for weeks on end, thanks to my training, and I sent them back. Even now, I'm fighting trying to keep his gate closed. I just got my keys from the apartment, and he's… not happy to say the least."

Master chuckled. "Let him through, my dear. We're all curious as to what he has to say."

She pouted. "But…"

"Lucy", he said sternly, and she sighed. She brushed her hand over Loke's key, and there was a flash of warm magical energy that spread through the guild. A second later there was a bright light to behind Lucy, and there he was, clad in his usual suit and sunglasses. There was a golden aura around him that flashed dangerously as he glared at Lucy with barely-contained rage.

"Lucy Heartfilia… do you know how worried I've been? How could you do that to me? What in the hell were you thinking?"

She sighed, standing up, but not walking closer. "I know, I'm sorry Loke. I didn't mean to make you worried, but I couldn't take you with me, you know that."

His aura glowed brighter. "That's bullshit! You know us better than that! We would never let you get hurt! Do you know how… Do you have any idea how we felt when we saw you get kidnapped and tortured? Or when… HE did THAT to you? You have no idea how it felt to watch that, but be unable to come out when you were forcing our gates closed! How could you do that?!"

She sighed, glancing around as people murmured to each other. Natsu looked at her, with his fists lit as they clenched the table to keep from doing anything reckless. She sighed looking back at Loke. "I know, I'm sorry Loke. But I had to do this. I couldn't risk losing any more of you guys. I've already lost Aquarius and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if you guys had gotten stolen. You know that."

He glared at her for another minute, before sighing. "We're gonna talk about this more later, Lucy, but I guess I understand. But you will NEVER do that again. Do you understand me?"

She nodded, and Loke came up to her, enveloping her in a tight hug, glancing at Natsu as he let out a quiet growl. He stepped back after a minute. You should talk to the others… Aries keeps crying, and Aquarius…"

She laughed. "I'm in trouble when I find her key, aren't I?"

He nodded, a grim smile on his face. "Yeah… I'd wait for a while after finding it, before summoning her…"

Lucy sighed, before patting his cheek. "Tell the others I'll summon them later, and that I'm sorry and I love them."

He nodded, cupping her cheek for a moment before vanishing in a flash of light. She sat back down next to Natsu, as Happy flew up to sit on her head.

"Continue your story, child", Master said.

She grabbed Natsu's hand again, twiddling with his fingers. "Right, so… after I dropped my keys off at my apartment, I went to Brigand and tried to find the cave, which of course was next to impossible without knowing where it was, or what it looked like, and of course no one in the town knew where it was, because they're all human criminals, and only a mage can enter. So, I stayed the night at a small inn on the edge of town. The innkeeper, I found out, used to be a mage with low-level holder magic, but got his artifacts stripped when he got arrested. He told me he'd seen the cave before, but he'd never been able to enter, because his magic was so weak. The next morning, he took me to it, but he said that he couldn't go in and wished me luck. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Old, ancient scrolls, and symbols written all over the walls, and piles of treasure and holder magic artifacts. I found a few keys, but Aquarius wasn't there. I was about to leave when I saw the Tartaros's symbol on one of the back walls."

She took a deep breath, the silence making her heart race faster. "It wasn't until I cleared everything away from the cave's walls that I realized there was some sort of story or prophecy written along the cave, but it was written in some… ancient language or something. I searched through the entire cave, and came across a book that deciphered some of the symbols, but most of them were still unknown.

There were still huge bits and pieces missing, but from what I was able to read…". Natsu rubbed her back soothingly, and Master urged her to continue.

"It was really confusing. It said that there was a way… to bring dragons back to Earthland. … Even… already deceased dragons."

Chaos immediately ensued, and Lucy kept her eyes off of Natsu even as she felt his hand tighten over hers. Master slammed a giant hand down on the floor to silence everyone. "Explain, Lucy."

"I'm not entirely sure exactly what it meant, but from what I could decipher, a guild that follows Tartaros would use the Eclipse Gate to go back in time, and bring back Zeref and Acnologia… but there would also be a possibility of bringing back the dragons that opposed Acnologia, meaning…"

"...Meaning Igneel, Metalicana, and the others", Natsu said, clenching her fingers.

She nodded, still looking at Master. "There were a lot of parts I didn't understand, but I wrote it all down as best I could."

She pulled a piece of folded paper out of her cleavage, and handed it to Levy. "So, after I left the cave, I ran. Sometime while I writing down the symbols, I felt like something was off, and my skin started crawling. I finished writing as soon as I could, and ran like hell. … But I was ambushed somewhere in the woods, and got knocked out after a while.

When I woke up, I was in some kind of prison-like cell. There were chains around my wrists, ankles, and neck. There was no one there for a while, and I tried to escape, but my legs had been paralyzed by magic, and chains were magic resistant. Eventually… someone came down. He said he was the master of a the guild called Tartaros II. He said… he said he was Acnologia's son."

It was silent this time, as they knew by now not to interrupt. Lucy ran a hand through the hair covering her face, taking another deep breath, her hand clenching Natsu's harder now as the memories came back. "He said that they had been trying to get into the cave for months now, and that there was something important in there. I wasn't sure if he was talking about the writing or not, but I refused to say anything. He searched me, thinking that I might have something on me, but I had already hidden the writing and the keys in a pocket in the Celestial World before I was captured.

I refused to talk for the next few months, and they tried to torture information out of me. That's how I got the scar on my face. One day, he came down. Azazel -that was his name- began talking about how I would never be able to escape, and that I would live in that torture chamber for the rest of my life if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know. … Than all of a sudden, he smiled at me and walked back upstairs."

She paused, her eyebrows scrunching together tightly, grasping at Natsu's hand with both of hers now. "He came back down later that night with a magazine, and he showed me an old picture of Natsu and I in Sorcerer's Weekly with a biography us. He said that he was very lucky to have captured a Celestial Mage, and almost all of the twelve zodiac in one try. He said that he had big plans for me. He came into the cell and branded me. I wasn't able to fight back because they had been keeping me paralyzed by injecting me with a bunch of different poisons.

"... After a while, my body began to become immune, and I was able to escape when I was strong enough. They had no idea that the poisons weren't working on me anymore, and when the mage with torture magic came back one morning, I knocked him out. After I escaped the guild I ran, but I couldn't come back to Magnolia yet. I kept trying to find Aquarius's key, but I was still being hunted, and I couldn't go out in public. My magic was hectic once I was out of those chains and I had to train all over again since I'd lost an eye and my body was weak. I was able to unlock all of the Sundress's for the zodiac, and had begun teaching myself celestial spells my new keys had begun teaching me. My spirit, the Phoenix, or Finn as I call him, taught me to draw power from the stars without using keys. It was a while before mastered that, and when I was healthy enough, I set out to continue searching for Aquarius's key. Somehow I ended up being chased by that damn vulcan, and I ended up here. And that's pretty much the end of my story."

It was quiet for a while, before Natsu stood up, his entire body blazing in a raging inferno, and stormed out, slamming the front doors open. Lucy looked after him, and was about to go after him, but was interrupted when she heard Happy crying on her head.

"Lucy… I-I'm so SORRY!"

Lucy was quick to hug the small exceed to her chest. "What are you apologizing for, Happy?"

He cried loudly. "We weren't there when you needed us! We're your team, and we weren't there!"

She laughed, wiping the tears from his face. "Happy, there was no way for you to know where I was or what was happening to me. I don't blame you and you have no reason to apologize. It's in the past, and there's no need to cry over what happened."

"B-but…"

She shook her head, patting his head. "Look at me. I'm okay. I'm here and I'm fine. Okay? I promise I'm not going anywhere. Alright?"

He nodded, hugging her chest again. Lucy looked up at her team, finding them looking murderous. She sighed looking over at Master. "Master, maybe we should wait until later tomorrow to continue this conversation."

He nodded, looking slightly disturbed. "Yes. You're right. Everyone came today for a celebration, so let us continue making preparations."

Everyone moved around slowly, as if they were coming out of a daze, but it didn't take very long for excitement to fill everyone as they finished preparing for the party. Lucy was being hugged closely by Gray, who was refusing to let go of her, and Juvia had become a puddle in her lap, after flinging herself on Lucy and crying hard enough to make a storm brew outside.

She had already been pulled aside by the Thunder God Tribe so that Freed could yank the back of her shirt up and get good look at her branding. Laxus had then proceeded to pull her aside.

"I know you purposely left out parts of your story. I want to hear every detail tomorrow. And you had better not leave anything out, Blondie. You hear me?"

She nodded, before looking up at him accusingly. "You're blonde too, asshole!"

He laughed out loudly, smacking her ass as she walked away, laughing again when she glared at him. She was talking with Levy about the symbols, and trying to convince her to wait until tomorrow to try and decipher them. After about an hour, Natsu came back in, looking calmer, but still angry. He immediately made his way to her, and crushed her to his chest, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"Lucy… "

She looked up at him, pushing him back a bit. "Don't apologize, because nothing that happened was your fault. Okay?"

He took a deep breath, looking down at her and nodding. "Alright. But I'm not letting you out of my sight."

She laughed. "I'm fine with that"

He wrapped his arms around her again, and she jumped up, her legs around his waist, his hands under her upper thighs to hold her up. She pulled back to look at him. "So does this mean you'll go shopping with me? Cause I still have to get some clothes, and food, assuming you don't have any at home."

A large grin spread across his face when she called it 'home'. "Of course I'll go. When did you want to leave?"

"Immediately. I have to get an outfit for the party tonight. I was gonna ask Erza and Gray and Wendy if they wanted to go too, but Wendy's doing something with Mira right now, and I haven't seen Erza and Gray anywhere."

"Here. We were wondering how long it'd take you to acknowledge us. Took you long enough."

Natsu turned them slightly so they could be seen. "You guys want to come shopping with us?"

Erza nodded. "Of course. Now that our team is finally back together, there's no way we're splitting up."

Gra cleared his throat. "Though, I would appreciate it if he wasn't touching you like that in front of me."

Natsu snorted, his hands tightening on her thighs. "Yeah right, Snow cone. I've seen you and Juvia make out so many times in front of me. It's payback time."

Lucy laughed, tugging lightly on Natsu's hair, before unwrapping her legs from his waist. "Come on, then. Let's get going."

She tugged lightly on Natsu's hand as Happy landed on his shoulder, pulling him out the guild as she shouted to Mira that they'd be back later.

Lucy and Gray were talking about ice sculptures when he looked at her arm when she pulled a tiny sculpture of the Fairy Tail symbol he'd made out of the air. "Hey, Lucy. When'd you get a tattoo?"

She looked at her arm. "When I woke up in Tartaros II after Azazel branded me, that was there. I don't know what it means, but I was planning on having Levy look at it."

Erza frowned. "Why didn't you mention it while you were telling your story?"

She shrugged. "It didn't seem important."

Erza was cut off from answering when Lucy pulled them into her favorite boutique, squealing in excitement. The shopkeeper looked at her in shock, before giving her a hug.

"Miss Lucy! It's been ages. I hardly recognized you."

She laughed. "Hi, Mr. Erans! I just got back from… training. I need new clothes, so of course this was my first stop."

He smiled at her and shooed her away. "Than by all means, please have a look around."

She browsed around, Natsu and Happy trailing after her, talking about food as Erza browsed separately, and Gray plopped down on one of the couches in front of the dressing rooms. Natsu and Happy joined him when Lucy went into the dressing rooms with Erza and a handful of party gowns. She tried several on, and came out for their opinions, but was unimpressed. She finally settled on a sparkly pleated black skater dress with a keyhole neckline. The hem reached the top of her thighs, and her arms were completely bare. For heels, she chose a pair of red round toe platform stilettos with a thick strap around her ankle.

After purchasing her outfit and another handful of clothes, she put the clothes in the Celestial World and they went to several other stores, including the grocery store, before making their way to Erza's favorite bakery.

Lucy laughed at Erza's excited face when they sat down. "It's my treat, you guys. Go crazy."

Erza nodded, her face serious as she looked over the menu they all knew she had memorized. Natsu played with a braid in Lucy's hair. "How do you have so much money, Luce?"

"It's from when I was modeling and working for Sorcerer's Weekly. Without you guys there to eat all my food and since the guild was gone I barely spent any money, and rent was really a problem. I haven't touched any of it since just now. Oh, except I finally bought my Father's house back."

Erza smiled at her. "I knew you could do it. I'm so proud, Lucy."

She blushed. "Thanks, Erza."

They ate in peace, and Natsu and Gray complained when Erza made them carry the twelve whole cakes she had ordered from the Bakery back to Fairy Hills. Gray, Lucy and Natsu went their separate ways, Gray heading home to Juvia to get ready for the party, and the latter heading to Natsu's home to do the same.

Lucy took a quick bath, laughing when Natsu and Happy pouted when she said they couldn't bathe together. Natsu seemed to understand that she wasn't quite ready to take that step yet, and pulled Happy out by his tail. She finished quickly, looking away from Natsu as she walked out in a towel, and pushed them in. When she heard the water running again and splashing she dressed herself, calling on Cancer to do her hair.

He came out in a flash of light, engulfing her in a tight hug. Lucy had forgotten that this was the first time she had called on him in about a year and a half,or for him a few weeks. SHe hugged him back for a few long moments, before he pulled back. "Sorry, ebi. It's been so long and I was so worried about you. Promise me you won't ever do anything like that again, ebi."

She nodded. "I promise."

He hugged her again quickly. "Alrighty, then. Let's make you even more beautiful than you already are."

He straightened her hair, admiring the how wild and full it was. He kept the braids and feathers in, but pulled the hair away from the left side of her face, with her permission, and wrapped it around her head in a fishtail wreath, while the rest hung down as wildly as ever. He didn't bother with any makeup other than eyeliner since her face was on display, and any attention would go immediately to her scar. Her eyes popped with the bright red eyeliner, and she put on some red lipgloss. She said goodbye to Cancer after she was done getting ready, and moved to the living room when she heard Happy and Natsu getting out of the tub.

She read on the couch until they came out. Happy wore a tiny black and white tux, looking absolutely adorable, and her heart stuttered when she looked over Natsu. His usually wild pink hair was slicked back sexily. It looked better now, since his hair was longer, than it had before when he'd done it. He wore a tight black dress shirt, the first three buttons undone, and his scarf around his neck, with tight black dress pants and soft ecco sneakers.

He looked Lucy over, his eyes flashing with sadness when he noticed her uncovered scar. She smiled, coming over and straightening his scarf a bit. He looked down at her, his hands coming to rest on her hips.

"Luce… if you're not comfortable showing your face yet, you don't have to. There's no pressure."

She shook her head. "I have to get used to people seeing it. Now's as good a time as any."

His hands came up to cup her face, and tilt it up a bit, kissing her softly. Her arms wrapped loosely around his waist as she lost herself in the kiss, their tongues swirling gently around each other. He pulled back first, leaning his forehead down onto hers. "I love you."

Her heart stopped at the unexpected confession. A smile stretched across her face, her face lighting up. "I love you too, Natsu!"

He laughed kissing her again, before a throat clearing interrupted them. Happy was blushing behind a paw, laughing quietly. "If you love birds are done, we're already late and Erza's gonna freak out if we're any later."

Lucy pecked Natsu once more, before leading them out the door, towards a night of excitement.


End file.
